Lo Specchio di Sogni The Mirror of Dreams
by ShylockFox
Summary: She felt as if she didn't belong in her time, and used her books to travel to worlds she wished she lived in. Then suddenly, she wasn't in her world at all. E/OW Girl is dropped into a book type business. Originally on my quizilla account.
1. Chapter 1

BEEPBEEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEE-*crash thud*  
The sound of the alarm clock against the floor was comforting to Kitty as she turned over in bed, trying to get back to the dream she was having. It had been a good one this time, and she wasn't too keen on losing it. She was about to go back to bed, when her mother came flying up the stairs to bang on her door.

_"Catherine Hardwicke! You get your tuchus out of bed this instant! You are NOT going to be late for school again! And that clock better not be broken, because I'm not buying you ANOTHER one!"__  
_"Good Morning to you, too, Mother" She grumbled as she dragged herself out from under her covers and into the daylight. She glanced down at her poor clock, which lay face down, batteries clear across the room, back broken.

"Nothing a little duct tape can't fix..." she mumbled sleepily as she stumbled to the door and down the stairs for breakfast.

"Well, look who's all bright eyed and bushy tailed this fine morning" her father commented as he looked over the top of his paper before going back to the stocks. Kitty mumbled incoherently as she poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a piece of burnt toast (compliments of her brother, who messed up his first piece and left it for he) Her mother looked at her and shook her head as Kitty plopped down at the breakfast table, her eyes still squinty from the sunlight.

"Honestly, Kitty, you have to start going to bed earlier. You can't stay up all-night reading books." "I'm fine, mother. I get enough sleep to make it through the day" Kitty grumbled as she jammed the rest of the burnt toast in her mouth and lumped upstairs to get ready.

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror after she had dressed and tried to find any redeeming features about herself. Nothing came to mind. Her forehead was too large, her smile too wide, and her hair too.....brown. "Good Lord" she mumbled. Her average body type was nothing to talk about and in her opinion, her eyes weren't even that blue, they were grayish, and boring."Well, this is as good as it's going to get, I guess." Kitty sighed and brushed her teeth quickly before running out the door to her beat up, '95 Lincoln, book bag and the current novel of choice in hand.

"Another day in the hell hole we call high school" she muttered as she pulled out of the driveway and started to head towards school.

As she was sitting at a red light, Kitty noticed something weird in her side view mirror. Some punk kid was trying to steal a purse from an old woman walking down the street. The old lady was putting up a surprisingly good fight. Kitty rolled down the window and shouted "Hey Kid! You better leave that woman alone if you know what's good for you, or I'll run you over!" She'd always been known to say things like this. The kid looked up and ran away, leaving the lady to straighten herself out. She pulled into the parking lot she was next to and stepped out of the car. "Hey lady, you alright? Did he get anything?"

The old woman looked at her "No, he didn't get much" she said in a craggly old voice. "Come over here, girl, so I can thank you properly" Kitty was going to be late. Again._ Why did I have to stop?_ She sighed, and walked over to her. The old woman looked up at her with small, beady eyes. "You have a name, child?" "Kitty" she responded. "Well, Kitty, thank you for shouting at the hoodlum." "It was nothing, lady, really. Now, I've got to be going..."

"No! Wait! Let me give you something, as a thank you gift" She said, and she rummaged around in her purse. "Aw lady, please, you don't have to-" Kitty tried to say, but she was cut off by the object the old woman out.  
It was a small, glass object with many different sides, and when she held it up to the light, the spectrum of colors shone and danced about inside it. She put it into Kitty's hand and closed it for her. "To keep" she said, and started to walk away. Kitty stared at it for a moment, mesmerized by the colors, and then looked up to say thanks, but the old woman was gone. A little weirded out, Kitty get back in her car and put the object in her pocket before driving off.


	2. Chapter 2

All day, as usual, kitty sat through school and went through classes, and as usual, was bored out of her skull. Whenever she got the chance, she would read snippets of her book, which happened to be Leroux's "Phantom of the Opera" when she thought her teachers weren't looking. Those were the kind of books she liked. Ones that took place in another time, a time with gowns, and balls, chivalry and romance. Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, she loved them all, but "Phantom" was her favorite. Her copy of it was worn after reading it so many times. Sometimes, she wished she could jump into the pages and stay there forever, where she was sure she would fit in. But of course, these things never happened, so she put those thoughts in the back of her mind and continued through her day, every once and a while, her hand dropping to the bulge in her pocket.

Kitty didn't have many friends, and only one best friend, Julia. She loved reading just as much as Kitty did, and they often spent time trading books and talking about them. But Julia hadn't been in school for a while; she was out with strep throat, so Kitty sat alone during lunch. She didn't mind, she liked to be by herself when she read.

After three hard tests, two boring teachers droning on about economics or physics, and a partridge in a pear tree, it was time to go home. Kitty practically ran out the door and jumped into her car. It was the weekend, and she was happy to be rid of school for a couple of days. She plugged in her iPod, and put on her favorite playlist, with Billy Joel blasting out of her speakers, and peeled out of the high school parking lot.

As she pulled into her driveway, she almost ran over her younger brother, who ran out in front of her, trying to grab a runaway basketball. Kitty jumped out of the car, fuming. "Damn it, Jacob, I almost KILLED you, you moron! Do you want to get run over?" she yelled at him. "You should be more careful where you're driving, jerk face!" he yelled back. Kitty stormed into the house, grabbed a snack without saying a word to her mother, and stomped up the stairs to her room, where she promptly dropped her bag and flopped onto her bed with her book, chomping on her crackers she had absconded with from the kitchen.

As she lay on her bed, she looked around at her room. She had always liked it. It was small, and cozy, her own little safe haven away from the rest of her world, where she could travel to anywhere she wanted to. _Well, at least I can, in my mind…_She thought to herself as she shoved the book in front of her eyes and rolled onto her side. "Ouch!" She had rolled on to the shiny thing that the old woman had given her. Carefully, she pulled it out of her pocket and held it up to the light. It truly was very beautiful; the way the light was caught and held in the center, reflecting all different colors off the walls of her room. She was really tired, it had been a long day, and she was prone to taking naps after she got home from school, as she got no sleep due to her late night reading sessions.

While she was holding the glass object, she thought about traveling into the world of the phantom, to Paris, to a world where she thought she belonged. She then dozed off, and her dreams filled with the phantom, old ladies, and crystal objects.


	3. I don't like labeling chapters

Kitty's eyes fluttered open as she rolled over onto her stomach. She was still a little sleepy. _God, it got dark really fast, how long have I been asleep?_ She started to search for her lamp on her dresser drawer, even though she didn't remember turning it off. Her hand fell to the floor. There was no dresser there.

_Odd…_

She groped around blindly again for the seemingly allusive nightstand. At one point, she reached a bit too far, and fell over the side of her bed with an ungraceful thump. She attempted to get up, and stumbled around a bit, waiting for her eyes to adjust in the dark. It was then that she was able to see some of her surroundings. She was NOT in her room. She was not ANYWHERE she had ever seen before. There were a bunch of beds in a drafty room, each with a head poking out beneath the covers. Kitty began to panic. _Where in God's name AM I? _

Kitty stumbled towards what she thought was the door out and grasped the handle, turning it frantically…

_Gotta get out, Gotta get OUT!!!_

As she attempted to open the door, she didn't realize that someone was opening it on the other side, the side that held the lock. The door swung open, and she became face to face with a wide eyed, angry Antoinette Giry. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Kitty began screaming.

"Kitty, what in heaven's name has gotten into you, child?" shouted Madame Giry. Kitty kept on screaming and began to run. She didn't know where she was running, she was just running. She ran right into another girl's bed and flipped over it because of the speed she was going at, tumbled onto the other side hitting her head on the floor. All went black.

"Stand back, girls! Stand back, I say! Return to your beds and go back to sleep!" Madame Giry said as she shoved her way to Kitty's side. "Catherine! Catherine, for God's sake, wake up child! You gave all the girls in the dorm heart attacks with your fit." She said as she slapped the girl's face. At first, Kitty began to come to slowly, but her eyes suddenly had shot open as she got ready to scream again, but was stopped by the angry ballet mistresses' hand. "Have you lost your wits, you silly girl? You might have woken up all of Paris if I hadn't stopped your screaming!"

Kitty stared at her, and spoke when her mouth was finally freed. ''Who….Who are you? Where am I? How did I come to be here?" Madame Giry stared at her. "Have you also lost your mind, Catherine? I am your ballet instructor, Madame Giry, you are at the Opera Populaire, and your parents sent you hear to learn ballet when you were 9." She pulled kitty up to her feet and spoke to her again, her voice less harsh this time. "Go to sleep, Kitty. I don't know what caused you to fly into that passion, but you must forget about it and go back to bed. Opening night is tomorrow" Madame Giry nudged Kitty towards her bed, muttering something like "crazy girl´ as she went back to her own room and shut the door.

Kitty wandered back to her bed, ignoring the whispers of all the girls around her as she sat down, dazed. _Opera Populaire? Paris? Madame Giry? This cannot be happening to me…_ She thought as she lay back on the bed, face towards the ceiling.

_This is a dream. This is a dream. I'll wake up from it in the morning, because there is no possible way that I am here, right now_.

She lay back, and closed her eyes, but did not sleep well, for she tossed and turned the rest of the night, her mind still trying to grasp the situation at hand.


	4. New Faces, New Places

_**Author's Note:**_ **Thanks for the reviews, and for the readers who read, but don't review. I've been very busy as of late, so the initial chapters had to be pretty short, I'm going to try to make them longer. Enjoy!**

Kitty awoke the next morning, without having much sleep, hoping that she was back in her room, only to discover that she was, in fact, still in the dorm. She sat up to get a better view of the room, which was now bathed in a post sunrise glow.

It wasn't just one large drafty room, as she had assumed the night before, but a series of open rooms without doors that all connected in one common place, with a large set of stairs on the north end. She looked around in awe.

_I don't believe that I'm actually where I think I am...OUCH!_

She had again, rolled on something sharp. She pulled out from under her the glass object the old woman had given her. She stared at it for a while.

_No way....maybe this..no, there's NO WAY this thing could have done this...or maybe it could have..._

Her thoughts were cut short when Madame Giry appeared from her room. "Girls, wake up! We must begin the final preparations before the gala." She boomed in a voice so loud that Kitty thought it impossible to come from such a thin woman.

Many of the girls began to stir around her, rubbing sleep from their eyes, and waking others who preferred to sleep in some more. A blond girl in the bed next to Kitty's turned around to look at her with concern on her face.

"Kitty, are you alright? You gave us all a good scare last night with your screaming"

Kitty stared at her. "Um…I'm sorry…who are you?"

The blond girl's face fell. "Kitty, it's me, Meg, remember? We've been friends since you first came here. Don't you remember anything?"

Kitty shook her head. "Look, I don't know who you are. I've never seen any of these people before. I don't even know how I GOT here!"

The girl, Meg, smiled. "Kitty, you must have hit your head harder than you thought. Come with me, and I'll try and help you remember. But first, you must get dressed. We can't have you walking around in your nightgown."

_Nightgown?_

Kitty looked down at herself, shocked to find that she was, indeed, wearing a nightgown. _When in God's name did I change into this?_

Dazed, Kitty quickly changed into the ballet dress that was usually worn for rehearsal, and was led by Meg down the stairs and through the back corridors of the opera. She was surprised to see so many people up and bustling about. Then she remembered what Madame Giry had said: That it was opening night.

_Wait a minute…didn't she also say that I've been dancing for her since I was 8?_

Kitty didn't dwell on it long, because they had finally reached the stage.

"My. _God."_

It was exactly how she had pictured it. She moved to the middle of the stage, taking it all in. It truly was astounding, the soft, red velvet seats, the ornate gold figures clinging to the boxes on the walls, and the mural on the ceiling, covered painted faces of happy cherubs and seraphim with trumpets, their jovial faces shining down on the players on the stage.

"Oh, you must remember, now, Kitty! How could anyone forget this?" sighed Meg as she stared out onto the sea of red seats as well.

"Yes, I'm sure no one could forget a sight such as this" Kitty murmured, lost in her own world.

"Ah,_ Scusi_? Girl, GIRL! 'ALLO?" An angry Italian voice came from Kitty's left side as she was prodded repeatedly on her shoulder.

Kitty was pulled out of her reverie and turned to get a good look at her attacker. A tall, angry, Italian woman with black hair and a ridiculous hat (it had some sort of stuffed bird on it) was glaring at her. "Why you standing in ma spot, you ballet rat? Get back in line!"

Kitty snorted "Uh, sorry, your majesty? I didn't mean to cross your territory. Maybe you should mark it better next time." As she left, she heard the woman mutter between Italian and English. "Crazy Girl. She needs to learn her place!"

Kitty stepped back to where Meg was stretching. "Who was that? She has the personality of a rabid wolverine!"

Meg gave her a look as she reached her arm over her head. "That's Signora Daniela Nirchi (Neer-key). I would think you would remember _her._"

"Wait, I don't understand. What happened to Carlotta?"

"Oh, Kitty, don't you remember anything? After the fire 6 months ago, Carlotta didn't come back. She was scared out of her mind and never returned, so Daniela was brought from Italy. I almost wish Carlotta came back, though. Daniela is 5 times worse"

_Ah. So the Opera House fire has already happened._

"Hmm. I see. I suppose the Opera Ghost was caught at some point after the fire, then?" said Kitty, furrowing her brow.

"That's what people say. When I went down to his…his lair after Don Juan, we found nothing. He had completely vanished. Many assumed him dead. But I don't think he is. You can't kill a ghost."

Kitty raised her eyebrows, but was distracted by two men walking onto the stage, trying to get people's attention. "Who are _they_?" There were so many people, and so much to learn in little time. Kitty couldn't take much more of this.

Meg began to whisper as the men began to talk. "I didn't expect you to know this. They are our new managers. The tall one is Mssr. Bennett, an Englishman, and the shorter one is Mssr. Lamereaux, a Frenchman, obviously. After our previous managers left in ruin, these two bought The Opera Populaire, and renovated it as fast as possible. They have only met with some of the company once, so not many of us know what they look like or who they are. This is the first time they've met with all of us. I only know most of this because Maman told me"

The shorter of the two, Lamereaux, had dark brown hair and watery blue eyes. He seemed to glance about nervously a number of times. The tall one, Mssr. Bennett, a somewhat young man began to speak. He had blond hair, and a smile played across his face as he spoke. "Hello all! Mssr. Lamereaux and I wanted to survey the dress rehearsal before tonight's performance of _The Magic Flute_. We wish you all well, and hope that tonight is a big success!" There was some clapping and cheers as the new managers smiled and walked off the stage, but then business began as the ballet dancers under the watchful eye of Madame Giry came to the front and began rehearsing.

"Kitty! Why are you not in line? Get in your spot, child!" Giry called out to Kitty, who jumped 10 feet in the air, and began to look panicked. She had snuck off to the side, hoping not to be seen. "But…but Madame Gir-" She was cut off by the Ballet Mistress clicking her tongue. "No excuses, Catherine! You cannot have forgotten to dance in one night!"

_But….I don't know how to dance ballet!_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks again to my few but greatly appreciated reviewers. I like to see what people think of how the story is progressing. Erik will show up real soon, if not this chapter, then the next, I PROMISE!**

Kitty stared at Madame Giry in absolute terror as she was ushered to her spot on the stage with the other girls, her eyes frantically searching for a way out.

_Good LORD, what am I going to do now? I've never danced in my life!_

Yet, as soon as the music began to play, her terror seemed to have melted away. She felt the melody through her entire being, and every other thought from her mind was washed away.

And then she _danced._

She danced as she had never danced before. Literally. She couldn't believe that she was actually dancing, or that she knew the steps. Yet, she was executing them with absolute perfection.

_This is so surreal…_She thought as she whirled about the stage, moving fluidly as she stayed with the other dancers perfectly. Her mind then became void of anything but the music, until it slowed and then eventually stopped, leaving Kitty out of breath and exhausted.

Madame Giry gave Kitty a satisfied nod. "I see you're feeling much better, Catherine. Your form looked very good, today." She then turned her attention to another girl and swept away. "Monique, come here, child, and run the last 20 counts for me again…"

Kitty stood where she had finished, still completely blown away by her new found talent. She looked at Meg, her face full of confusion.

"Meg….Meg, did I actually just do _that_?"

"Hmm? Do what, Kitty?" said Meg, her attention somewhat focused on going over dance steps in her head.

"You know, dance…all that! Did I really do that?"

Meg snorted with amusement as she turned to face her. "Of course you did! Kitty, honestly, what is going on with you? You claim amnesia, yet you have remembered all the steps for that portion of the ballet."

Kitty looked down. _It's not as if I could tell her the truth, she wouldn't believe me, _She thought._ I can see it now: 'Oh hey, Meg! Yeah, you see, see the reason I don't remember anything is because some old crone gave me a magic crystal type thing, and transported me from my world to this one.' _

_Riiiiiiiiiight._

Kitty was once again pulled from her thoughts by the new Diva, who had shoved her way to the front of the group and nearly knocked the girl off of her feet. It was time for her aria, and she wasn't going to let anyone forget it. As Signora Daniela prepared herself, Kitty had noticed that the maids cleaning and polishing the opera house had plugged their ears with bits of rag they had in their hands. Stifling a laugh, she backed up to stand next to Meg, and braced herself for the sounds soon to follow.

***

Hundreds of feet below where Daniela prepared to murder the aria, the Phantom of the Opera was composing. Or at least, attempting to. He sat at his organ; his head leaned on his right arm as he scrawled something on a piece of paper, looked at it, crumpled it up, and threw it over his shoulder. Anyone surveying this would have seen that he had followed that same procedure many, many times, as crumpled pieces of paper littered the floor around him.

Frustrated, Erik slammed his fist on the organ, and turned away from it, running his hands through his black hair. 6 months…6 months had gone by since the fire, the destruction, the ruin. He hadn't been able to write a single note since then.

_Why is it so difficult to write a bloody piece of music?_

He stood up and began to pace, the events after Don Juan playing through his head once again. He must have gone over the scenario hundreds of thousands of times in his head, and every time was as painful as the first. Often, he tried focusing on other things, trying to take his mind off of the mental anguish that consumed him for so long. Yet, his mind was almost always drawn back to Christine.

_Oh, Christine… _

After Don Juan, Erik had vanished from his lair in the belly of the opera house for some time, to avoid any encounter with the police. He had tucked himself away in a small town in the mountains, where no one asked questions, to nurse his wounds. After a few months, he had come back to his lair to collect some things, only to find it in shambles. The group sent to find him had left it in ruin. Everything was destroyed; his music, his life, _his organ…_

Erik buried his face in his hands, mental agony washing over him again. He turned his head to the side, seeing his lasso laying a few feet away, curled like a cobra, waiting to strike. He reached out for it, holding it in his hands. It would be so easy, to end his life right then and there, but a little voice inside his head taunted him.

_You're too much of a coward to do it, aren't you?_

Erik stared grimly at the rope in his hand. Oh yes, he had contemplated many times taking his own life. He had never been able to force himself to follow through with it. No, instead, he continued to live in his personal Hell, now without his music and his Christine.

_Coward, no wonder Christine left you for that insolent boy. You're not even man enough to take your own life._

That voice again. Erik shut his eyes tightly, hoping to make it go away. Once again, he put his mind on other things. He had not planned on staying when he came back, but the news of_ his _opera house being renovated and reopened compelled him to return for good. After all, someone had to make sure things were running to his standards, and that the new managers were kept in line.

His thoughts were interrupted by the faint, but still recognizable sound of shrieking.

_Hmm. It sounds as if the new Diva is rehearsing once again. I don't think I've given her a proper welcome yet. _

Throwing his cape around his shoulders, Erik leapt into his boat and pushed his way towards the other shore. It was time to make it known that this was still his opera house, and he would not relinquish it into the hands of the new idiot managers until he stated some….requests.


	6. Chapter 6

When Kitty was 12, there was a family reunion held at her house. At the end of the first night, one of her aunts had gotten extremely drunk, and performed a very shrill, out of tune version of "Endless Love." Kitty thought it was the worst singing she had ever heard in her life. That is, until Daniela opened her mouth.

Kitty couldn't believe what she was hearing. The diva's voice was so shrill, she thought all the dogs in Paris would come running to the Opera Populaire. She and Meg exchanged a look. Both tried to stifle their silent laughter, but to no avail. The managers seemed to think that her voice was a gift from heaven. Bennett had his eyes closed; the lopsided smile still on his face, and Lamereaux was practically falling over in admiration.

These reactions did nothing to help stop the silent laughter that was floating around some of the cast members. As she was giggling silently, her eye caught a flash of white high in the rafters of the stage. Her laughter immediately ceased as her eyes searched for any form of movement, but found nothing.

Her eyes scanned the spot where she had seen the flash again and again, but saw nothing more. Her attention was then drawn back to the diva, who was preparing to hit an obnoxiously high note.

As Kitty braced for the note to end all notes, she didn't notice one of the screen scenes falling from its place at the top of the stage ceiling until it was almost too late. She leapt out of the way with some agility, but that could not be said for Daniela, who was knocked to the ground by the falling scenery.

The Diva was not pleased. As the managers pulled her out from the collapsed canvas, she went into a horrible passion.

"What was the meaning of this-a? You have ruined my Aria, _Uomini stupido! _I will not be treated like this-a! You will have to find a new Diva_!"_ She shouted at the managers, who looked absolutely horrified. They couldn't afford for Daniela to even consider leaving, so they began to apologize.

"Signora, this was a total accident, I assure you. Whoever was working up there shall be sacked immediately!" stammered Monsieur Lamereaux, his face red, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Monsieur Bennett looked up into the stage ceiling, his face contorted with anger. "Who is responsible for this? I must know! These things cannot and will not happen under THIS roof!"

One of the stage hands, a younger lad with a shock of red hair stuck his head out from the left side of the stage. "Uh, Monsieur? No one was there when the canvas fell. I checked multiple times, I did!"

"Well, who is responsible for that post at this time?"

The boy shook his head "No one knows, Monsieur! Everyone is blaming everyone else. I'd madness back there"

Daniela turned on the managers, her face filled with exaggerated anger.

"What kind of a place-a are you running here, where your diva is nearly killed by the laziness of a stagehand-a?" She screamed, poking her finger in Lamereaux's chest.

Both the managers began to grovel at her feet, obviously desperate to save their Gala (and their profits)

"Please, signora! Stay and continue to sing for us. We promise you, this will never happen again!"

"I should 'ope so! Crazy people in this place-a! This would never 'appen in my home country…" the diva said as she flounced off to her dressing room, her servants in tow.

Both the managers heaved a huge sigh of relief, their worst fears delayed…for now.

"Well, now that THAT ordeal is over, I trust that the rest of rehearsals will run without anymore interruptions" said Monsieur Bennett, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket.

As the managers prepared to leave, Madame Giry, Kitty observed, had handed them an envelope with some sort of red emblem on the back. The shorter one, Lamereaux, immediately paled and looked like he was going to be sick. He whispered something frantically to Bennett, who blanched, but then regained his composure. Madame Giry said something to them that Kitty couldn't make out, and the managers walked away.

Madame Giry turned to the cast members, who had found other interesting things to focus on, and clapped briskly to get their attention. "Alright everyone. Let's move on. Come on, girls. Find your spots. Quickly, now!"

Kitty was intensely curious about the letter the managers received. She glanced at Meg, who apparently had not seen the letter being delivered, for she was engaged in a conversation with one of the other ballet girls.

_I wonder if that was from who I think it's from…_

Of course it was. She didn't have to ask herself that. She also knew that she should keep her nose out of other people's business.

_What I really should be worried about_, she thought, _is how to get out of here. This is cool and all, but I don't even know how I got here in the first place!!!_

Her mind now focused on that, and the music she now had to dance to, Kitty put any thoughts of the Opera Ghost or that strange letter out of her mind.

* * *

"This is bloody ridiculous! I thought that menace burned down with the Opera House!" Monsieur Bennett fumed as he stomped around the manager's office.

"Edward, please! I don't want to have a repeat of what happened 6 months ago. Perhaps we should just listen to his demands, and stop pacing! You're making me extremely nervous!" Lamereaux pleased with him as he sat in his chair, looking over the note written in a spidery hand.

"I will NOT be made a fool of, Jean, by this crazed lunatic who runs around in a white mask all day and hides in the dark like a vampire!" raged Bennett, snatching the note from Lamereaux's hands. He perused it again, his anger mounting.

_Gentlemen,_

_I want to personally welcome you to my opera house. I sincerely hope, for your sake and mine that you run it to my satisfaction. A few things you should note before the gala this evening: I keep box 5 for my personal use. It will be kept empty for me for tonight, as well as all nights of performances._

_In recent years, previous managers have paid me a salary of 20,000 francs a month. I hope that you will be able to either match or surpass this sum, as I haven't been paid in more than 6 months time. _

_I will keep you informed on things that need changing in my opera house, as I know you are busy men, and often don't see the blatantly obvious problems around the theatre. The second viola is in need of sacking, as he lacks the ability to tune. I trust you will resolve this problem as soon as possible._

_You should be aware, Gentlemen, that my orders are to be obeyed, and I will not be pleased if I find they have been neglected._

_Your Obedient,_

_O.G._

"Who does this bastard think he is?" Bennett growled as he slammed the note on his desk "I am not to be ordered around like a child! I swear, Jean, I will-"

"-follow this ghost's orders for right now, Edward" Lamereaux intervened as he sipped his tea nervously. "We cannot afford to undo all the time and money we have put into this place. Until we can figure out a way to rid ourselves of this….this specter, we must do as he asks of us."

Bennett grumbled as he plopped unceremoniously into his chair. "Fine, but mark my words, Jean, I will not bend to this man's whim so easily next time. I will NOT" he said as he slammed his fist on the table, shaking both Lamereaux's tea and his nerves severely.

* * *

**A/N: I had off from school this past week, so I had a lot more time to post chapters than I will for the rest of 6 months. I'll try to update as much as I can, but I don't know how much that will be. At the least, I'll try to make it weekly. **

**Reviews are desired, but not required!**


	7. Into the Depths of the Opera

Chapter 7

Kitty was hopelessly lost.

After the final rehearsal for her part in the opera, she had wandered off to get to know her surroundings better.

_Stupid, stupid, STUPID…_

She had gone around and around the opera house for an hour or two, admiring its beauty and elegance. At one point, she had ended up behind stage, where a brute of a stagehand, drunk as a lord, had come up to her, his voice slurred.

"Hello there, pet! I don't think I've seen you around 'ere before…"

"Uh, yeah, I'm not surprised about that. I'll just be going now…" Kitty had said, backing away from him slowly.

"Aw, you don't have to leave, you pretty thing. Come 'ere and give us a kiss" he had said, grabbing her waist and attempting to pull her close.

"Get your hands offa me, you creep-o!" Kitty had yelled before kneeing him hard in the groin and giving him the left hook in the jaw before running away from him as fast as she could.

The man doubled over, too much in pain to follow her. "That's the last time I mess with a ballet rat…" he groaned as he hobbled back to his post.

Kitty continued to run, not even knowing where she was going. She slowed her pace down a bit, finding herself in a corridor that looked like it hadn't been used in a while. She leaned up against the wall of a corridor to rest, panting, only to be extremely shocked and confused when the wall began to move! Before she knew it, she was on the other side of the wall, staring at it, shocked.

"Hey...HEY! What the hell is going on here? Who did this? HELLO? Is anyone there?" Kitty began banging on the wall with quite some force, trying to get the wall to move again.

After her hands began to bleed from the pounding, she began feeling along the wall for some sort of trigger, a button, anything to get the blasted wall to move.

Finding nothing, she slid down the wall, exhausted, her attention now turned to her cut, bleeding hands.

_Damn…_

She looked around, her eyes not adjusted to the darkness. She sighed. Where was she?

"This is great, just great. I'm here for, what, a day? And now I'm completely lost in a place from a God forsaken book with hands that look like they've been through a meat grinder!" she muttered, trying to wipe the blood away.

She didn't know she had attracted the attention of someone in the shadows, and was completely oblivious to the black form silently approaching her in the darkness.

* * *

Erik chuckled to himself as he sat in a chair, sipping his brandy in his home in the belly of the opera. He hadn't been in this good a mood for some time. The screen had come down exactly as he wanted it to, getting the exact reaction he predicted. He had always enjoyed watching Carlotta blow up like a puffer fish when he dropped something on her, and this new diva was no different.

He hadn't followed the managers back to their office after his letter was delivered. He knew exactly what they would say, and had no need of having his speculations being confirmed. If they were smart, they would follow his orders without much hassle.

Erik was almost certain, however, that they were not the sharpest of men. They would probably follow his commands…for now. He half suspected them to throw some courageous type charade together and attempt to get rid of him.

This made Erik chuckle even more as he leapt agilely into his boat, pushing off from shore towards the other side of the lake. Perhaps he would have more fun than toying with these people than he had thought.

As he pushed towards the opposite side, he distinctly heard a sound, a voice, coming from the way he had come. He listened closer; making sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, as it often did. There it was again! Someone was in his domain! Eyes flashing with anger, he shoved himself towards the shore, jumped out of the boat, and slunk down the dark tunnel.

As he grew closer, he was able to decipher very little about the voice, for it was very low, and was mumbling angrily.

Lasso in hand, he slid up to a corner, and turned his head around it, finally catching a glimpse of the person that owned the voice.

* * *

Kitty was now talking to herself.

She worked at a camp in the summer, and whenever she had to walk alone in the dark, she often talked to herself, in order to save her sanity. Clasping her bloodied hands together, she began giving herself some sort of pep talk.

"Alright, this tunnel has to lead somewhere. Maybe if I follow it, I can get out of here." She pushed herself up by leaning against the wall, and got her balance quickly.

"Now, which way to go…"

As she attempted to figure what way to choose, she heard something. It had almost sounded like the swish of fabric. Kitty quickly went on guard and looked around, nervousness beginning to stir in the pit of her stomach. Then, a silky voice came from behind her.

"My dear, I do believe you are trespassing"

Kitty whirled around, only to see nothing. "Who's there?"

She turned around a couple of times, trying to figure out where the voice came from.

"My my. It seems we are in the wrong place at the wrong time." There it was again.

"Alright, whoever you are. I know you're here somewhere, so why don't you just show yourself." She then listened very carefully, and couldn't believe what she heard. This guy was _laughing_ at her.

_Great. I'm lost, and now this wacko is freakin' me out._

"Okay. It's not real. It's so not real. This whole thing is some crazy dream. I'm not even really here! Sometime soon, I'm gonna wake up from this…"

Again, the voice's laughter rang out through the tunnel.

"Don't lie to yourself, dear. This is not a dream. This is a nightmare, and I am very, very real." Something then brushed past Kitty, knocking her to the side.

"_GOOD LORD!" _She yelled as the white mask came into view, staring her down. She then made a break for it and dashed off to the left, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

Kitty didn't make it very far, as she tripped over a stone sticking out from the ground. She fell hard, her head knocking against the ground.

As her vision started to fade, Kitty realized that this was the second time she would be knocked out in the past 12 hours. She was also able to make out the flash of a white mask coming toward her before everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, I know you guys probably want to kill me for leaving it like that, and it's a short chapter to boot, but that's all I could get done. I'M SORRY!!!! I will try to update soon, really! Don't stop being cool!**

**Reviews are desired, but not required!**


	8. the way overdue author's note

Author's Note:

Hey guys! So I realize that I haven't been on fanfiction in 10 months. My bad. Please don't kill me! I got real busy with school, and then this kind of got put on the backburner, then completely forgotten. I feel so bad! I know I always got mad when I story I enjoyed reading went kaput! Well, I'm in college now, and Christmas break is slowly approaching. I really want to start posting on this again, and I have the next chapter in the works. I will try to post it ASAP, for real. I just need to get through finals week, and I'll be home free for a month. Also, I really want you guys to contribute as the fic continues to unfold. I'm looking for some input, so if there's something you might want to see happen, please please PLEASE feel free to let your ideas loose. Who knows, I might use them!!!

Once again, I'm really sorry for the intense delay. You guys are totally rad. I hope to have this story up and running again real soon!

Love and Kisses

Shylockfox


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